Vacuum-cleaner.



UNITED sTATEsl PATENT OFFICE.

ARTHUR THOMPSON, OF 'BROOKLINE MASSACHUSETTS.

VACUUM- To all whom t may concern:

Be it knownithat I, ARTHUR Tiioiiisoi, of Brookline, in the county ofNorfolk and State of Massachusetts, a citizen. of the United States,have invented a new and` useful Improvement iii Vacuum-Cleaners,

of which the followingv is a specification.

The purpose of my invention is to increase the usefulness of the cleanerby giving its nozzle a greater range of-,adjustment yso.v that it may bereadily usefully used upon:comparatively thin carpets and also uponcarpets having -a thick pile; also, to

Pi/Vide means whereby .threads and other like matters maybedislodgedfrom the floor so that they maybe readily attracted by the air blast anddrawn into the dirt receptacle.

Theconstructionof my cleaner also provides a ready means fory connectingthe eX- haustfwith a secondary nozzle-of some chari acter whereby thecleaner may be used upon furniture or other `articles than the carpetorfloor. f f l n My invention will be understood `by reference to thedrawings in whichit is shown in its preferred and simplest form.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a cleanerembodying my invention, tlienozzle,

thread-lifting device and rod being shown in a section-taken on linel-gfl of Fig. 4.

Fig. 2 isv a detail showing .thelieight-adjust- 'ing mechanism insection on line 2-2 of' Fig. 3. 'Fig'. 3 is a view toillustrateparticulaijly the under side of the nozzle, the thread-lifter being inplaceTand Figliis a longitudinal section of the nozzleshowing the meansvof attachment. of the thread-` are all of ordinary construction andneedA not`v be further explained except that the conduit SB hasanopeningl'i over which lies.

a .pivoted cover B1. which is adaptedto be swung up out of tlieway toallow a hose 4coupling to be passed in through the open- -f'ing b to thefan chamber within the casing A1, thuscutting' out the licor nozzle` and.CLEANER v specification of Letters rt-ent." Patnted Apr, 25, 1916Application filed J une 4, 191.5. Serial No. 32,182.

cansing the -fan to draw `through the couj .pling and hose. This isuseful when it is de* siredto connect the fan chamberwith any 'otherform of nozzle than that shown. This construction allows the Hoor nozzleC to be made integral with the casing A, A1.

A1 is a yoke piece attached to each side -I of the casing A, A1, havingpivotally mounted thereon a wheel A4. These parts being also common tothe art are not shown in detaih They form a unitary structurewhicliismounted to swing with relation to the aXisof the supportingwheels. For this purpose. this (structure has brackets C2 integral with.the nozzle C, and .in Ithese brackets is-carried a rod C1 on each end ofwhich is mounted an arm D, D1 and each one of these arms D, D1 carries astud .upon

which is mounted a, wheel i to turn thereon so that the device as awhole is supported on theiloor by the three wheels A, (l, d.v

The casing is thus mounted eccentric to the wheelsd, the rod C1, arms D,D1 forming a wheel frame carrying the wheels d, d. The height` of thenozzle C rfrom the ioor depends upon the angle of the arms D, D1 f with'the floor. As shown in Fig. 2, the

nozzle is quite cl'ose to the floor, but-by turnqg ing and locking thesearms so that they are more nearly horizontal than as shown in Fig. '2it'will be seen that the nozzle C will be'lifted with relation totheaxles of the wheels. To accomplish this lifting I have provided at oneend of the device a handle (Z1 which is attached to and forms part ofthe arm D, andl fast upon the rod C1 I have provided one member (Z2 of alock, the other member comprising a pin J3' sliding in a recess orpassage in a portion of the casing A1, this passage being lettered d*.and coni taining also a spring d5, the front end of which bears againstsaid pin da and the rear end of which engages a shoulder d6 in thepassage.l The purpose of the spring Z5 is tokeep the'pin Z3 in itsforward. position. The lock member d? is segnieilitalfin character andis provided with "recesses d1 adapted to receive and engage the end oftliepin d3. This mechanism is such that upon moving thev handle al1 ineither direc- .tiorthe arm D" and rod C1 vto which-,it is pinned isturned either to depress or raise the arm D, andas the arm D1 is pinnedto the rod C1 parallel with the arm D the y turningof the rod C1.,raises or lowers the arm D1 at the further end of the machine aswelhaiid as Athese twoA arms carry the Wheels (Z, the position of therod C1 and nozzle C with relation to the axles of the Wheels is thuschanged and the nozzle C raised or lowered.

lVithin the nozzle C is located a threadlifter E. rI`his thread-liftercomprises preferably a. wooden bar to the under surface of which felt orother textile material is applied. In practice I prefer to use a seriesof pieces of felt e or the like preferably set at an angle as shown sothat alternate pieces will be parallel With each other. For best resultsthese pieces oi felt project slightly beyond the plane of the lower faceof the nozzle, and the thread-lifter E is yieldingly supported in thenozzle, the felt pieces c as the nozzle is moved over the Carpet,engaging the threads and the like to loosen them 'from the carpet sothat they are lifted by the exhaust and drawn up into and through thenozzle. They with-the dust, etc., passingr through the fan1 are carriedinto the pipe F to the end F1 of which the usual dust bag (not shown) isattached.

I prefer to support the thread lifter in the nozzle in the followingmanner: The thread-lifter is provided with openings e1 at each end,these openings being located with reference to the screw pins e2 so thatthe pins serve as guides to the vertical movement of the thread-lifter.Springcatches e3 are attached to the interior of the nozzle. Thesespring catches are in the nature of loops having a contracted opening asat e* and the thread-lifter E has at each end a link e made of Wire orthe like Wl ich, when the litter is pushed into place, snaps by theportion c* of the spring catch,v so that the lifter E hangs normallyupon this portion c.

In order to keep the thread-lifter in proper relation to the opening inthe nozzle, I provide leat1 springs e attached at one end to thetln'eadliftei', the free ends of these springs bearing against theshoulder el within the nozzle. Thus the lifter may be easily withdrawnfrom the nozzle if it is not desired to use it, and may be as easilyreplaced and When replaced will serve its purpose projecting preferablyslightly beyond the opening to the nozzle so that it will engage thesurface of the carpet.

To operate this cleaner I have provided a bail G of ordinary torni whichis mountedv to swing on the rod C1, one arm of the bail being at eachend of the rod Cl, and in addition I may provide means for adjusting theangle of the handle with relation to the `floor. such as a. segment G1attached to one oi the brackets C and a slotted, threaded pin y, the.slot in which fits over the segment (il (s ec Fig. 2), the outer end ofthe pin g carrylng a thumb nut, the Whole forming a clamp by which thepin and the segment may be bound together. Theend of the bail G carriesa socket piece Gr2 to receive the end ot' a handle, a set screw Gr3being provided to hold the handle in place. This matter I have notillustrated fully, nor is it necessary to describe it further as it iscommon in all machines of this class.

I do not mean to limit myself to the precise construction shown as othermeans of adjusting and locking the height of the nozzle from the floormay be adopted which Will be within the scope of my invention. Moreover,the thread-lifter may be otherwise constructed and supported and yet beWithin the scope of my invention.

`What I claim as my invention is:-

1. In a device of 'the kind described, a easing comprising nozzle, amotor and a fan located in said casing, and a support for said casingcomprising wheels, adjustable means for mounting `said casing on saidwheels whereby the relation of the nozzle to the Wheels may be adjusted,said means comprising a Wheel frame, a pivotal connection between saidwheel frame and said casing and wheels mounted on said Wheel frameeccentric to said pivotal connection, in combination with a lock adaptedto lock said casing and said Wheel trame,` one member of said lockcomprising a segment mounted on said Wheel frame and the other member aspring-controlled pin mounted on said casing and located to engage saidsegment.

2. In a device of the kind described, a casing comprising n0zzle,'amotor and a fan located in said casing, and a support for said easingcomprising Wheels and adjustable means for mounting said casing on saidwheels whereby the relation of the nozzle to the Wheels may be adjusted,said means comprising a` rod mounted to turn with relation to saidcasing, arms located at each end of said rod, a Wheel mounted in eacharm eccentric to said rod, a segment mounted on said rod in proximity toSaid casing, a spring-controlled pin mounted in said casing to engagesaid segment and a handle mounted on said rod whereby said segment maybe operated to adjust the relation of said Wheels to said casing.

3. In a device of the kind described, in combination with a nozzle andadjustable means for regulating the height of said nozzle above thework, thread-picking means mounted in said nozzle; and means wherebysaid thread-picking means will automati lally adjust itself with respectto the Work eoperatively With the position of said nozzle ARTHURTHOMPSON.

